There was a time not too long ago when hearing the name “Bamford” conjured images of customized luxury watches of all stripes, sometimes with a level of taste that would make many enthusiasts sneer. That’s the nature of custom watches, though. The designs come from the mind of the owner as much as the customizer, and hardcore enthusiasts have really never been too keen on modifying, for example, stainless steel Rolex sports watches. So the fact that Bamford is now synonymous not with custom tweaked watches (although they still do this, primarily with LVMH brands) but affordable and accessible watches geared directly toward the enthusiast market is a turn that few would have predicted a decade or so ago. But it seems to be a reflection of where Bamford Watch Department’s founder George Bamford’s interests really lie.
Their latest is perhaps the brand’s most ambitious creation to date. After gaining steam over the past few years with a series of well received character watches (including a number of whimsical GMTs), Bamford has pivoted to a new dive watch concept featuring a ceramic case and a bunch of little design details that make it stand out. The new D-300 diver is available in a total of four colors: white, black, navy and green. The ceramic bit here is actually an outer shell around a titanium core, a method of case construction widely used in the watch industry that helps strengthen the case and also control costs (these watches come in at $1,950). The case shape is reminiscent of the aforementioned GMTs, and measures 42mm in diameter with a case height of 13mm.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the D-300 beyond the materials and colors is the colorful dive bezel. Each variant features a contrasting element highlighting minutes zero through 15, and frame a dial with a crosshair design and large lume filled markers with numerals at the cardinal positions. These designs strike me as unapologetically contemporary, with the white being a personal favorite that I think would be a great summer choice. Note that the temperature as I type this is currently right around freezing in the northeastern United States, so there might be a bit of wishcasting here.
The D-300 runs on either a Sellita SW200 or ETA 2824 (a decision that was made to ensure plenty of watches could be produced to meet demand). They are water resistant to 300 meters and each watch is mounted to a color matched rubber strap with a pin buckle. In terms of additional specs, they are fairly boiler plate, modern diver in nature: screw down crowns, sapphire crystals, and such.
The new D-300 divers are available now through the Bamford Watch Department website right here.
